Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Population of the Larger Urban Areas 500-1500AD
Population of the Larger Urban Areas
Colin McEvedy has provided estimates of the population of the larger urban areas in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East during the medieval period.
Population of the Larger Urban Areas
| Population |
528 AD |
737 AD |
1000 AD |
1212 AD |
1346 AD |
1483 AD |
| 50-125000 |
Alexandria
Antioch
Constantinople
Rome |
Constantinople |
Baghdad
Constantinople
|
Baghdad
Cairo
Constantinople |
Cairo
Constantinople
Florence
Genoa
Ghent
Milan
Paris
Tabriz
Venice |
Cairo
Florence
Genoa
Istanbul
Milan
Naples
Paris
Tabriz
Venice |
| 23-49000 |
Carthage
Ctesiphon
Ephesus
Salonica
|
Alexandria
Antioch
Basra
Damascus
|
Alexandria
Antioch
Basra
Cairo
Cordoba
|
Alexandria
Antioch
Basra
Damascus
Milan
Samarkand
Shiraz
Tunis
Venice |
Alexandria
Baghdad
Barcelona
Bologna
Brescia
Bruges
Cordoba
Cremona
Damascus
Fez
Granada
London
Marrakesh
Naples
Padua
Rouen
Samarkand
Shiraz
Verona |
Aleppo
Antwerp
Barcelona
Bologna
Brescia
Bruges
Brussels
Cologne
Cordoba
Cremona
Damascus
Ferrara
Fez
Ghent
Granada
Isfahan
Lille
Lisbon
London
Lubeck
Mantua
Marrakesh
Moscow
Nuremberg
Padua
Palermo
Rome
Rouen
Samarkand
Seville
Shiraz
Toulouse
Tunis
Valencia
Verona
|
| 15-22000 |
Hamadan
Istakhr
Milan
Miletus
Ravenna
Rayy
Sardia
Smyrna
|
Ctesiphon
Fustat
Hamadan
Kuta
Mosul
Nishapur
Rayy
Salonika
Shiraz
Toledo
Wasit
|
Damascus
Fez
Hamadan
Isfahan
Kalrouan
Mecca
Mosul
Nishapur
Palermo
Rayy
Seville
Shiraz
Toledo
Wasit |
Aleppo
Brescia
Bruges
Bukhara
Cordoba
Florence
Ghent
Hamadan
Herat
Isfahan
Kairouan
Konya
London
Mahalia
Marrakesh
Mecca
Mosul
Naples
Nishapur
Novgorod
Padua
Palermo
Paris
Pisa
Qua
Rabat-Salé
Rayy
Rome
Sana
Seville
Tabriz
Toledo
Verona
Wasit |
Antwerp
Avignon
Basra
Bergamo
Cologne
Damietta
Ferrara
Herat
Isfahan
Liege
Lille
Lucca
Lubeck
Magdeburg
Mahalia
Mantua
Mecca
Messina
Modena
Mosul
Nishapur
Novgorod
Nuremberg
Palermo
Palma
Parma
Pavia
Piacenza
Pisa
Prague
Qua
Rabat-Salé
Rome
Sana
Seville
Siena
Sultaniyah
Toledo
Valencia
Vicenza
Wasit
Yasd |
Alexandria
Aysut
Baghdad
Basra
Bergamo
Bordeaux
Bursa
Damietta
Edirne
Herat
Isfahan
Liège
Gdansk
Kairouan
Magdeburg
Mahalia
Mecca
Messina
Modena
Mosul
Novgorod
Palma
Parma
Pavia
Piacenza
Prague
Rabat-Salé:
Sana
Siena
Strassbourg
Toledo
Ulm
Wroclaw
Valladolid
Viacenza
Vienna
Yasd |
The inability of the population to grow at its previous rate in the period between 1346 and 1483 is thought to be due to many causes. One, the Black Death (bubonic plague) struck Europe in 1347. But climate change, lack of new arable land, and economic disruption are also credited as causes.
Source: Based on Colin McEvedy, The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History, Penguin, 1992. ISBN 0-14-051249-7
From the now defunct Medieval Technology site. The site was maintained by Dr. Paul J. Gans (1933-2021). The author is Paul J. Gans. In addition any included original images and the specific electronic form and design of this material are copyright (©) Paul J. Gans, 1997-2002. Dr. Gans, a friend of mine, notes "Permission is granted by the copyright owners to copy the text and to print out copies for personal or educational use provided that the copyright owners are mentioned as such and all included attributions, including the author's name, are retained. No permission is granted for commercial use of any of this material without the express written consent of the copyright owners." I believe resuing his material from the defunt site would be pleasing to him in his efforts to make electronic materials available for teaching..
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© Paul Halsall, February 2023
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